Happenings of the Chabad Lubavitch אנ"ש community of Rockland County, New York

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Parsha Perspective

By Rabbi
Yisroel Shusterman

This
week’s Parsha Perspective is dedicated by Mr. Binyomin Philipson in memory of
his late mother Mrs. Ellen (Elka bas Zisel) Philipson OBM

Amnesia is a
frightening illness. Imagine forgetting who you are - suddenly you have no
family, no history, and no identity. It can happen to an individual and it can
happen to a people. There have been times in our history when we seemed to
forget who we were and where we came from. And all too often, we seem uncertain
about where we are going.

In this
week's Torah portion, which begins the third Book of the Torah, Vayikra (Leviticus
- 1:1-5:26) we read the expression Nefesh ki techeta - "when a
person will sin." The Torah goes on to describe the various
atonement offerings necessary to absolve one from their trespasses. The
Kabbalistic classic, Zohar, renders this phrase both literally and
spiritually. Nefesh is interpreted as not merely a person but
a soul, and the verse is punctuated by a question mark. In other words,
the Torah is asking Nefesh ki techeta? Shall a soul sin? Can a Jewish
soul, a yiddishe neshamah, a spark of divinity, really and truly
stoop to commit a lowly sin? How is that possible?

Indeed, the only way
it can happen is when we forget who we are, when we are no longer in touch with
our true spiritual identity, when we start to suffer from spiritual amnesia.

Sadly, it does
happen. In fact, it's not really that difficult. After all, we live in a
secular society. The old ghetto walls are no longer there to insulate us. We
are exposed to the big wide world with all its seemingly tantalizing
diversions. Even if we do marry within the faith, we become culturally
assimilated. Slowly but surely, then, even a nefesh, a Jewish soul, starts
forgetting who she is and can fall into the web of sin.

Remember the
"wise man" from Chelm and his problem? He worried that when he went
to the public bathhouse where everyone is unclothed he wouldn't know who he
was. Without his own personal set of clothing to distinguish him from others,
he might suffer an identity crisis. So he devised a plan. He tied a red string
around his big toe so that even in the bathhouse he would stand out from
everyone else. Sadly, when he was in the shower, the water and soapsuds
loosened the red string, and it slipped off his big toe. To make matters worse,
the red string floated along to the next cubicle and twirled around the big toe
of the fellow under the next shower.

Suddenly, our
Chelmer genius discovered that his string was gone. He started panicking. This
was a serious identity crisis. Then he saw that the fellow next door was
sporting his red string. Whereupon, he ran over to him and shouted, "I
know who you are, but who am I?"

Who are you? You are
a Jew! You are a son of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a
daughter of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. You are a
member of the "kingdom of priests and holy nation." You were freed
from Egypt and stood at Sinai. You have survived countless attempts on your
life and your faith. You emerged from the ashes of Auschwitz only to live
again. And you ask "Who am I?" This is a serious case of national
amnesia.

So the holy Zohar
reminds us that we are not only "a person who may sin." We are a
soul, and shall a soul sin? A soul is by definition part and parcel
of the Divine. And for the G‑dly soul within us, distancing ourselves from our
very source is absolutely unthinkable.

How else can we
explain the phenomenon that after 70 years of Communist atheism, Jews in the
Former Soviet Union are today fervently embracing the faith of their
forefathers? Or that after decades of apathy, American Jews of all ages are
desperately seeking spirituality? Or that the renaissance of Jewish life has
become a reality around the globe? Yes, there are good people out there
igniting sparks and fanning them into a fiery faith. But the sparks would not
take if there was not a burning ember inside every Jewish soul, an ember that
remains inextinguishable no matter what.

So if you ever have
doubts about who you are, remember the Zohar. You are a soul. And a soul never
dies.